I'm absolutely elated with the amount of attention this blog is getting. Well over 1000 views in under 12 hours. And today we're fortunate enough to have Mr. Benny B-Roll of Have Heart and Death Before Dishonor share some of his lifted riffs with us.
In contrast to the last post, Ben takes a bit more subtle approach to his stolen riffs, changing them up slightly and putting his own twist on them. And with Have Heart and Death Before Dishonor as proof, our lesson learned today is; no matter how many hardcore kids hear your songs, no one will notice you stole some riffs. Have Heart did the largest tour in hardcore history, and yet, not a single call-out. Riff-lifting is an art. And here's some examples and tips from Benny,
"I have one for you. When I was in Have Heart I took the song Young Hearts Be Free by GUTG (Give Up The Ghost) and turned it into Dig Somewhere Else. Just the beginning part though and I slowed it down."
Take a listen to these riffs back to back. You probably wouldn't have noticed until he mentioned it. A sign of a good theft:
He goes on to point out that the main riff of Death Before Dishonor's "Fuck This Year" is the breakdown riff of Ministry's "Psalm 69". Check it out:
Any advice for the young folk out there looking for riffs to steal, Benny?
"First, I masked it pretty well by being in a completely different tuning. Basically what I did was listened to a riff I really liked, and being in a different tuning it's obviously not gonna sound the same...so I played the riff how I thought it would be played without figuring out exactly how it's really played. If you do that and don't play it exactly, then it will be slightly different enough to not be a total rip. (I hope that all made sense.) Then just make it slower or faster depending on what you wanna do. Then the drums/vocals/etc will take care of the rest."
There you have it, some tips from a professional, and proof you can get to the top of the hardcore world on someone else's riff.
Thanks Ben!
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